How are shells from a gun traced back to the person who shot it??

Question

i never understand what people mean when they say the shells can be traced back

Answer 1

The TV writers have their forensic pathologists correlate markings on the case with microscopic tool marks inside the chamber of the firearm. It happen much more commonly on TV than in real life, despite the greater number of shootings in the real world.

Of course, that still identifies only the gun, not the shooter.

Answer 2

finger prints can only be found on rounds that where not fired. when they are fired they heat up enough to destroy the prints. in order to match up you must have the gun. the firing pin and extractor leave distinctive markings on the casings. and most people keep the remaining ammunition somewhere that can be found when a search warrant is issued.

Answer 3

One way is that fingerprints can be pulled off the shells. If those fingerprints are in the database, it can be traced to the person who loaded (and probably shot) the gun.

Answer 4

The grooves in the barrel leave a discernible print and the firing pin also.

Answer 5

They can find out which gun fired the bullet and then they can find out who owns the gun.  

Answer 6

The shells can be traced back because each gun leaves its own, supposedly unique, indent on the shells. They are usually like a scratch down the whole shell casing. Sometimes theres only one, sometimes many and vary in thickness. So if you have a shell and you think you have recovered the weapon, you shoot a bullet it out of it and see if it creates the same pattern.  

Answer 7

They can not be "traced back" without having the gun.

You need to have the suspect gun, do a test firing, and compare the markings on the projectiles, or the markings caused by the firing pin,  to those found at the scene of the crime. When examined under a microscope, these markings are unique and can be identified as the same as the test firing from the suspect gun.

Answer 8

     Ballistics traces bullet casings back to the GUN  that fired the bullet and then to it's registered owner and or the most viable prints on the gun available.  

     Gun barrels have slight grooves on the inside that cause the projectile to spiral toward the intended target.  These grooves, while not unique to each gun, can be matched to the specific bullet that was fired from the gun it was fired from.  In short if I've got a bullet and a gun then I can make a determination but if I'm missing either then I'm S.O.L as far as actual tracing goes. Thats why the bad guys throw guns and not bullets.  If they threw the bullets instead (aside from fingerprints) the gun could be on file already giving specific information about the weapon including these tale tale barrel indentations that manifest themselves as minute burnt grooves in the casing.      

Answer 9

You're kind of creeping me out with this question...

Who'd you shoot?

Answer 10

Im not sure what you mean by shells so let me go at this from two angles.

If your talking about the actual projectile, the bullet will usually have spiral markings etched on the side of it that come from the barrel of the gun. Inside the barrel of the gun there are tracks along which the bullet travel to give the bullet a spin. The spin helps to make the projectile more accurate. If the marks on the bullet can be compared to the tracks on the barrel of the gun then you'll have found the weapon. Fingerprints, hair or blood that is left on the gun can then lead investigators to the culprit.

If by shells you mean the casing left over from a fired bullet the answer is simple. When the bullets are loaded into the clip a person must push on them against the spring. The casing after the bullet is fired is ejected from the gun. The casing can lead investigators to the gun based on the caliber of bullet, or the casing may sill have the culprits finger prints.